1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile workshops. More particularly, the system of the present invention relates to an improved mobile workshop of the transportable type for use on oil rig sites for manufacture, maintenance, testing and servicing of downhole tools, configured to maximize the work space and storage space of the workshop.
2. General Background
In the drilling and completion of both offshore and on land oil rigs, there is the need to constantly maintain, repair and refurbish downhole drilling, completion or production equipment, particularly downhole motors. Such motors are usually 20 to 25 feet in length, and when retrieved from downhole, need to be disassembled and the maintenance or refurbishing work done at the rig site. If the motors have to be shipped to a remote location, the shipping expense is great, and the amount of time lost from the operation of the rig can be very costly. Therefore, there is known in the industry as mobile workshops. Companies such as Houston Engineers, Inc., Becfield, Inc. and Griffith Oil Tool are such companies which manufacture a mobile workshop to be placed at a rig site. Usually, such a workshop is housed within a closed structure, such as a container and shipped to the rig site. The structure would house the necessary machinery, such as hydraulic vices, floor jacks, jib cranes, and the like, mounted to the floor of the structure in order to do the work on the downhole equipment.
In those mobile workshops currently known to applicant, the workshops fall short in several areas. For example, in addition to the machinery which is mounted in the mobile workshops, there is often a great deal of other equipment and tools which must be stored in order to fully equip such workshops. However, because the machinery is mounted on the base of the container, the storage space in the container is severely hampered, and what results is the need to provide a second or even third container for providing storage space, or further work space especially for larger tool sizes such as 8" and larger. Additionally, because of the enormity of these downhole drill motors, one cannot easily operate within the confines of the floor space provided for the machinery, and the drill motors must be removed from the workshop, usually with a forklift, in order to be turned around, and then returned into the workshop for the needed work.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved mobile workshop which allows for both space for equipment and storage space within the same workshop container in standard transportation dimensions, without the need to have additional containers for storage, or additional machinery, such as forklifts, in order to move the downhole motors within the workshop during operation.